


When It First Happened

by marsssbb



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: (brief) stenbrough, Angst, Cuddling, Eddie loves Richie, Fluff, M/M, Reddie, Richie Tozier is bisexual, Richie loves Eddie, Sonia Kasbrak’s A+ parenting, eddie kaspbrak is GAY, no pennywise because screw her, there’s a mention of Richie’s parents, this is my first fic so be nice please, trigger warning: brief depiction of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:22:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22166317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsssbb/pseuds/marsssbb
Summary: Richie was settling in bed, thinking about the day and his crush, when Eddie came for a visit.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Stanley Uris/Bill Denbrough
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	When It First Happened

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This isn’t my first fic ever on this website, so please be nice! There is a trigger warning (just in case you didn’t read the tags): a brief depiction of abuse. If this triggers you, please do not read. If you do read, thank you and enjoy!

Richie settled into bed, thinking about how the day played out. As usual, he had hung out with the Losers for most of the day, making dirty jokes about screwing with Eddie’s mom, and saying that he currently had, like, ten girls hanging on to him. Of course, everybody knew that it wasn’t true, but nobody except for Beverly and Stanley had said anything. Beverly had asked, “Honestly, Richie, be honest- who the hell would be clinging on to you?” This question made everybody but Richie and Eddie laugh, Richie’s face growing red with embarrassment. Stanley pushes the subject, saying simply, “Yeah, Rich, the only people that would be clinging on to you would be our grandparents, and even then none of them would be wanting to screw you.” At that, the laughter died down. Nobody (not even Stanley himself) really understood what he’d meant by that. 

“Heh, yeah, that didn’t make much sense did it... sorry.” Stanley forced out. 

“D-d-don’t worry ab-about it, S-Stan!” Bill chirped next to him, from his spot on the couch. He gave Stanley the warmest smile that he enjoyed saving just for him, causing Stanley to blush a little bit and reach for his hand. The rest of the group laughed and “ooh!”ed the two, teasing them carefully.

Bill and Stanley had been out to the group as a couple for two months now, and the only one who would even consider crossing the line from simple teasing to being harsh was Richie. Of course, he did it only with love, saying things like, “That’s gayyy, guys!” before glancing over to Eddie, who always seemed to stare at him lately. 

Richie chuckled to himself, an almost-giggle, but not quite. He likes thinking about why Eddie was staring at him, full of... of what? Richie asked himself, suddenly stopping that train of thought. Of like? Maybe, but the likelihood of that being possible is very slim. See, Eddie didn’t like Richie the way Richie likes Eddie. Because Richie was like Bill and Stanley.

He liked boys. 

And there was no possible way that Eddie could possibly even think about Richie in that way, especially with how his mother is. His mother surely taught him that it was wrong to like boys. He must have been taught that, right? With how overbearing Eddie’s mom was, and how she wanted to keep him clean of everything that she considered dirty, unsanitary, or tainting in any way possible. He scoffed at himself, because obviously Eddie’s mom would’ve taught little Eddie that liking boys was a dirty thing. Hell, that’s how Richie was taught! And surely if Richie has been taught it, then Eddie’s mom had taught it to Eddie ten times more. 

He pushed away his thoughts at a sudden tap on the window, followed by two more raps. He nearly shrieks when he sees Eddie staring at him through the window. The last time Eddie snuck over to his house was three months ago. Usually it was the other way around, Richie sneaking out to Eddie’s house at midnight for days at a time. Richie opened his window, helping the smaller boy climb through without hurting himself.

“Eddie, what the hell are you doing here? It’s not even ten o’clock!” Richie says before noticing the redness of Eddie’s cheek, or the tears welling up in Eddie’s eyes. “What happened?” He asks him softly. 

“M-my mom... sh-she hit... she fucking hit me, Richie!” He whispers out in a raspy voice, as if his voice was shredded from yelling, or if his ribs were bruised and cracked.

“Fuck. Okay... shit... I’m sorry... what, uh, what do you want me to do?” Richie asked Eddie, holding him as if he was a breaking porcelain doll. 

“Just... just hold me here, okay?” Eddie’s voice breaks in the middle, breaking Richie’s heart a little.

“Okay. I can do that. You want me to snuggle you next?” Richie jokes, hoping to lift the spirits of his best friend. 

“Um... would that... would that be weird if I said... yes?” Eddie stammered out slowly.

Richie’s face burns at the thought, noting that Eddie’s does the same. 

“No. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I have a question...” Richie’s voice breaks off at the end. “Why did your mom hit you?”

Eddie stills, suddenly terrified to speak. He couldn’t tell Richie, there was no way that Richie would be able to accept him. He’d push Eddie away from him, tell him to leave- because Eddie was tainted. He was dirty, he was disgustingly dirty, and if he told Richie then even he would think that Eddie was dirty, too. 

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to talk about it! I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything that you’d find... harmful, I guess? I don’t know the right word there...” Richie mumbles the last part to himself, pushing his face into Eddie’s hair. They both go silent, finally just resting into the comfort of each other’s arms

After a while, the position they were sitting in started to hurt their backs. Eddie squirmed against Richie’s chest, and Richie wiggles his back around. 

“Here, let me just...” Richie starts, pulling himself away from Eddie, and moving to where his back was in the corner. He pulled Eddie carefully to him, sitting him between his knees. He holds him there tightly, one hand in his hair, the other around his waist. Eddie’s head laid against Richie’s chest again. He relaxed into him, his breath slowing. Richie played with his hair, softly, making sure to not pull it too hard. He sighs, a low sound escaping from his lips. Eddie does the same. 

After about thirty minutes of snuggling, Eddie yawns. “Richie, I’m tired... can we go to sleep?”

Richie nods, saying, “Yeah. Uh, do you want me to take the floor?”

Eddie hesitates for a second, not sure he should say what he wants to. “Actually, could you...” he gulps. “Could you... stay up on the bed with me? Y-you don’t have to, I just... don’t want to sleep alone tonight...” Eddie says the last part quietly, as if he knew he was saying something wrong, something that would make Richie hate him. 

Richie stays silent for a moment, thinking. Does he really want me to sleep with him? In the same bed? He shakes his head, but then counteracts it by saying, “Of course. Anything for my spaghetti boy~” he tries to make a joke out of the situation, tries to hide his true feelings for Eddie. But he just can’t. 

“This... this isn’t exactly the right time for joking around, Richie, don’t you think?” Eddie sighs softly. He knew he was just trying to lighten the mood, but he didn’t feel like he was in the right mindset for jokes. 

“Yeah... Yeah I know.” There was a long pause. “Um, are you ready to go to sleep, or do you want to change into one my shirts or sweatshirts or shorts or...” Richie’s voice trails off as he thought about Eddie in his clothes. Of course, Eddie’s worn his clothes before. And every time he wore them, Richie would admire the sight. From afar, or as close as he would allow himself to get when he was feeling like this. Like he wanted Eddie, wanted to hold him tight or sleep in the same bed with him- which is exactly what the plan was for tonight. Was he ready for this? Was he okay with being this close to Eddie? Was Eddie okay with being this close? Of course he is, Richie scoffed to himself. He wouldn’t have asked me to sleep with him if he wasn’t okay with it.

“Um, yeah, I would... I would like to wear one of your sweatshirts and shorts to sleep in... if-if that’s okay w-with you...” Eddie stammers. 

Richie smiles softly. “Of course it’s fine with me. Just... you know I’ll have to move from the position we’re in to get the clothes, right?” He says quietly into Eddie’s hair. 

The thought struck Eddie, and suddenly he started shaking. He didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay right where he was- between Richie’s arms. Snuggled into Richie. He trembled at the thought of moving. But he also wanted to be enveloped in Richie’s scent, so he moved. 

Richie gets up after him and walks over to his closet. He fetches a hoodie and a small pair of shorts and then hands them to Eddie. Eddie takes them and contemplates whether or not he was going to go into the bathroom to change or if he would stay in the room with Richie. 

Richie senses his hesitation, and tells him, “You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to be alone. I can just turn around if you don’t want me to see anything.”

Eddie turns a slight shade of pink. “Okay, but you... you don’t have to turn around.” He regrets saying this the moment he said it, knowing full well he had bruises and welts all over his stomach from his mom beating him. He under-exaggerated earlier, saying his mom simply hit him. What she did was much worse. She beat him with a belt, and had kicked him when he was on the ground.

“O-okay,” Richie stuttered out, blushing. He sat down on the bed and tried to overt his eyes from Eddie as he peeled off his clothes, until he glanced at him with his shirt off. He gasped, standing up quickly and reaching out to touch one of the bruises. He stops just short, not wanting to hurt Eddie.

“What the fuck happened to you, Eddie?” Richie asks quietly. He wants nothing more than to hug him but now he was afraid of hurting his poor Eddie. 

“When... when I said my mom hit me... well, this is what I meant, Richie...” Eddie starts crying, wishing he’d just gone to the bathroom to change so he didn’t have to see the anger flash in Richie’s eyes, or the sadness in his face. 

“What the hell? She didn’t simply hit you, baby, she flat out beat you!” He didn’t register that he’d just called his crush “baby” or that Eddie’s face flushed even more at it. He was still inspecting the boy’s stomach. 

“I... I know, but honestly I can’t blame her... I mean, I’m-“ Eddie cuts himself off, nearly letting It slip. The Big Scary Secret. The Dirty Little Secret he was desperately trying to hide from... from everyone. 

Richie looks up at him then. “You’re what, Eds?” Eddie doesn’t say anything, not even to tell Richie to not call him Eds. “Eddie... why did your mom beat you?”

Finally, Eddie gives in. “She... she found a... a l-love letter in my desk...” he mumbles.

“A love letter? Which girl was it to?”

Eddie hesitates before saying, “I never said it was a girl, Richie...”

It hits Richie then. Edward Kaspbrak, his Eddie, likes boys. This would’ve made Richie’s heart soar, had he found out under other circumstances.

“But... then who was the letter to?” Richie asks timidly. “Was it to Ben? You guys seem a little close...” This was an overstatement bye far. Eddie and Ben rarely ever talked, and if they did it was usually Ben gushing about Beverly.

Eddie rolls his eyes. “No dumbass, it wasn’t Ben.” He wipes off his face with his shirt, which was still in his hands. “But it is someone in the Loser’s club...” Eddie couldn’t handle telling Richie straight up that the letter was for him. He’d hate me, and then he’d never forgive me or even be my friend ever again and I... I just can’t live with that. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

“Okay, well, if it’s not Ben then it has to be either Bill or Stanley... but wait they’re dating so it can’t be them... but there’s no one else that you’d-“ It hits Richie then. Eddie was blushing profusely not just because of embarrassment, but because he knew Richie would find out. Find out that Eddie likes Richie. 

Eddie likes Richie. 

Holy shit, Eddie likes me.

Richie realizes he’s been quiet for too long when Eddie says, “I-I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, I know. I just, you asked, and I just couldn’t keep it a secret anymore, I shouldn’t have said anything I-“

He’s cut off by Richie kissing him. Not roughly, but softly just in case Eddie didn’t want him to kiss him. And Eddie nearly, almost instinctively, pushed him away before he realized what was happening. But when it hit him, he pushed into the kiss.

They pull apart after just a few quick seconds, but then push back together again. Richie pulls himself away after that, though, to give Eddie a hug, still wary of his welts and bruises.

“So... you like me back, right?” Eddie says after a minute of just staring goofily at each other.

Richie gapes at him, shocked he was even questioning it. “Edward Kaspbrak, I have liked you ever since we were kids. I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I learned what kissing was. I’ve wanted to be your boyfriend ever since I learned what being gay was, which was a mere four years ago. So, yes, of course I fucking like you. You dipshit.” Richie adds in the last part with the warmest smile he thinks he’s ever given anyone. 

“Okay, well that’s good. You’re... you’re not doing this simply because you feel bad for me. Okay. Um... wh-what does this exactly mean?” Eddie stutters a little bit, trying his best to focus on the important things. (Not that Richie liking me isn’t important, I just have questions that need answers.)

“Whatever you want it to mean, baby~” Richie says flirtatiously. 

Eddie grins even deeper. “Can it mean that we’re... boyfriends? Please?” He asks, almost in a begging way. He wants Richie, needs him.

“Of course, Eddie Spaghetti. We’ll be the best boyfriends we could possibly be, okay?” Eddie nods. “Good. Now, get my clothes on or I’ll put them on you myself.” As much as that sounded like a threat, Eddie felt like Richie would be careful with him.

“Okay, fine. Just... one more kiss?” He asks shyly. 

Richie giggles (what the fuck? Did... did I just giggle? Because Eddie asked for a kiss?) and teasing him, saying, “Nope. Not until you get the clothes on.”

Eddie whines, a high pitched noise escaping from his throat. “Fine. But only because I’m cold and I want another kiss.”

Richie watches in admiration as Eddie puts on his clothes. He laughs when Eddie’s hands don’t reach the hand holes in his sweatshirt. He kisses Eddie when he’s done putting on Richie’s clothes. He snuggles up next to him in bed, finally arriving at the last spot the two were going to be that night. 

“Hey, Eds?”

“Yeah, ‘Chee?”

“G’night.”

“G’night.”

And with that, they slowly fall asleep in a tangle of limbs, both dreaming happily of the other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! As I said before, this is my first fic so please do be nice! If you have any constructive criticism or any requests or just a comment, please do tell!


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